An announcement for Fr. Eleftherios Tatsis was issued by the Bishops and Clergy of Victoria, which states, inter alia, that after a series of canonical offenses to which Fr. Eleftherios Tatsis has fallen, the Archbishop of Australia was led to the decision to suspend all his honorary titles, to remove his authority to spiritual fatherhood and preaching the divine Word, and called him for a written apology for the canonical offenses into which he had fallen, as required by the regulations of the Holy Archdiocese.
In the past, orthodoxtimes.com had written about the matter, referring to Loupasakis’ “clone” in Melbourne.
This clergyman has in recent years occupied the Archdiocese of Australia with his behavior, which was not appropriate for a clergyman.
In his sermons he gave… medical advice, he was against vaccines, and he spoke disrespectfully about the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Archbishop of Australia, and the Metropolitans of the Church of Greece, highlighting himself as the only “right” theologically and ecclesiastically.
Today’s decision of the Bishops of Victoria comes after both they and the Archbishop of Australia showed patience on this issue, and after what was stated in the announcement, with the Archbishop not showing a willingness to allow such phenomena to persist within the Church.
Read below the announcement:
With great sadness, we feel the need to take a position on the issue concerning the inappropriate behaviour of our fellow brother priest of the Holy Archdiocese, Fr Eleftherios Tatsis, who for a series of months has been publicly attacking both our Patriarch and Archbishop, as well as us – the Bishops and clergy who serve in Melbourne and in the State of Victoria – essentially attacking the whole of the Church and having fallen into a series of canonical offenses.
Our Holy Archdiocese recently released a statement informing the faithful about Fr Eleftherios’ attitude and behaviour and detailing the events that took place in the last few months as well as some indicative public stances that document his sad deviation from Church canons and from an Orthodox ethos and mindset. The statement concluded with the wish that God enlighten him and grant him a repentant mind and that he returns to the fold.
Unfortunately, Fr Eleftherios’ demonic ego, likely fuelled by the selfish motivations of people around him, did not allow him to walk the path of peace and repentance but, instead, pushed him into a new cycle of aggressive rhetoric against the Church and he engaged in further canonical misconduct.
His Eminence, our Archbishop, reflecting on Fr Eleftherios’ many years of ministry in the local Church – not, of course, greater in comparison to the ministry of many other clergymen who have contributed the same, or even more, without fanfare and without deifying themselves and without discrediting Bishops and other clergy – from the beginning, showed a sincere disposition of understanding for the sake of harmony.
However, our Archbishop’s disposition collided with the constantly escalating aggressive behaviour on the part of Fr Eleftherios, typical of which is the letter he sent to His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, falsely denouncing his ecclesiastical authority.
The said letter was returned by the Patriarch to Fr Eleftherios as unacceptable and contrary to the canonical order of the Church.
It was the Patriarch’s decision to then impose Fr Eleftherios with the penalty of the removal of his title as Oikonomos of the Ecumenical Throne. It is clear, therefore, that Fr Eleftherios himself, with his inappropriate and offending behaviour, caused the developments that led to the imposition of the penalty from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, while our Holy Archdiocese and our Archbishop showed patience and were silent, waiting for his repentance and return.
As a consequence of the above developments, His Eminence our Archbishop was led to the decision to suspend all the honorary titles of Fr Eleftherios, the removal of the authority to spiritual fatherhood and preaching the divine Word, and calling for a written apology for the canonical offenses into which he had fallen, as they are defined by the regulations of the Holy Archdiocese.
To the disappointment of all of us, our brother priest who is under censure for his misdeeds, through a letter to the Archbishop and through the sermon he anti-canonically delivered on Sunday the 2nd of October, not only did not respond to the substance of the issues for which he was called to apologise but persisted in the tactic of praising himself and self-deification, of slandering the Archbishop as well as us Bishops and clergy, and reaching the point of hurling threats against our Archbishop, for which justice can be sought.
In conclusion, the announcement of his resignation from duties, as much as it saddens us that a member is removed from the Body of the Church, nevertheless, we consider it to be the most appropriate solution for the sake of peace and for maintaining the spirit of unity, given the conditions caused by Fr Eleftherios, who for a long time behaved and acted as a foreign body to the Orthodox Church, having consciously chosen the path of autonomy.
We, the Bishops and clergy who serve the Greek Orthodox people of Victoria, renew our commitment to work with dedication for the needs of the Christ-loving plenitude of our Holy Archdiocese, to follow the holy Canons and to obey the decisions of the Mother Church and our Archbishop and, above all, to show due respect towards each other, as well as to all those who throughout time have laboured for the progress of Orthodoxy and Hellenism on the fifth continent.
Since in this struggle, no one is spared and no one is excluded, we declare that we will not stop praying for Fr Eleftherios, beseeching God to enlighten him and for his steps to be directed to return to the canonical Orthodox Church, in a spirit of love, unity, and mutual respect.